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Valparaíso

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Central & South American
Geography

   Port of Valparaíso, Chile
   Enlarge
   Port of Valparaíso, Chile

   Valparaíso is Chile's most important seaport and an increasingly vital
   cultural centre. The city is located in central Chile, where it is
   capital of the Region of Valparaíso. Valparaiso is also home of the
   National Congress. Built upon dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the
   Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone
   alleyways, embodyng a rich architectural and cultural legacy.
   Valparaíso is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is often
   considered to be one of Latin America's most intriguing urban areas.

   In 2003, the Chilean Congress declared Valparaíso to be "Chile's
   Cultural Capital" and home for the nation's new cultural ministry.
   Although technically only Chile's 6th largest city, with 263,499
   inhabitants (2002 census), the Greater Valparaíso metropolitan area,
   including the neighboring resort city of Viña del Mar, is the second
   largest in the country (803,683 inhabitants).

   Valparaíso played an important geopolitical role in the second half of
   the 19th century, when the city served as a major stopover for ships
   traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by crossing the
   Straits of Magellan. Always a magnet for European immigrants,
   Valparaìso mushroomed during its golden age, when the city was known by
   international sailors as "Little San Francisco" or "The Jewel of the
   Pacific."

   Examples of Valparaíso's former glory include Latin America's oldest
   stock exchange, the continent's first volunteer fire department,
   Chile's first public library, and the oldest Spanish language newspaper
   in continuous publication in the world. The opening of the Panama Canal
   and reduction in ship traffic, dealt a staggering blow to Valparaíso,
   though the city has staged an impressive rennaissance in recent years.

   Valparaíso is located in central Chile, 120 km (74 miles) to the
   northwest of the capital Santiago. The city is an important educational
   centre with nine universities. Major industries include tourism,
   culture, and transport. Valparaíso stages a major festival attended by
   hundreds of thousands of participants on the last three days of every
   year. The festival culminates with a "New Year's by the Sea" fireworks
   show, attended by a million tourists who fill the coastline and
   hillsides with a view of the bay.

   Approximately 50 international cruise ships call on Valparaíso during
   the 4-month Chilean summer. The port of Valparaíso is also an important
   hub for shipping of container freight, and exports of wine, copper, and
   fresh fruit.

   Travel between Valparaíso and Santiago currently takes some 70 minutes
   on a state-of-the-art toll road.

   The Chilean Congress meets in a modern building in the Almendral
   section of Valparaíso, after relocation from Santiago during the last
   years of the military rule of general Augusto Pinochet. Although
   congressional activities were to be legally moved by a ruling in 1987,
   the newly built site only began to function as the seat of Congress
   during the democratically-elected government of Patricio Aylwin, who
   followed Pinochet, in 1990.

   The historic quarter of Valparaíso was declared a UNESCO World Heritage
   Site in 2003.

History

   Valparaíso's bay was first populated by Changos, an ethnic group
   dedicated to fishing and gathering. Spanish explorers arrived in 1536,
   on the Santiaguillo, a ship sent by Diego de Almagro, considered the
   first European explorer of Chile. The Santiaguillo carried men and
   supplies for Almagro's expedition, under the command of Juan de
   Saavedra, who named the town after his native village of Valparaíso de
   Arriba in Cuenca, Spain.
   View of Valparaíso Bay in 1830
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   View of Valparaíso Bay in 1830

   During Spanish colonial times, Valparaíso remained a small village,
   with only a few houses and a church. After Chilean Independence from
   Spain, Valparaíso became the main harbour for the nascent Chilean navy,
   and opened to international trade, which had been limited to commerce
   with Spain and its other colonies. Valparaíso soon became a required
   stopover for ships crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via
   the Strait of Magellan and Cape Horn, and gained particular importance
   supporting and supplying the California Gold Rush (1848-1858). In its
   role as a major seaport, Valparaíso received immigrants from many
   european countries, mainly from England, Germany, France, Switzerland
   and Italy. German, French, Italian and English were commonly spoken
   among its citizens, who also had newspapers in these same languages.

   International immigration transformed the local culture from its
   Spanish origins. Football (soccer) was introduced to Chile by the
   English immigrants, and the first private and catholic school in Chile
   was founded by french inmigrants in Valparaíso: Le Collège de Les
   Sacrés Coeurs (The Sacred Hearts School) which has been working for
   about 170 years in this city. In Valparaiso, there were also founded
   the firsts non-Catholic schools by immigrants from England and Germany
   (The MacKay School, and Der Deutsche Schule respectively). Immigrants
   also formed the first volunteer fire-fighting units (still a volunteer
   activity in Chile), while architecture reflected European styles.

   The golden age of Valparaíso's commerce ended after the opening of the
   Panama Canal, as most ships sought to avoid the Strait of Magellan, and
   the port's importance and use was reduced substantially. Traffic has
   increased in the last few decades with fruit exports and increasing
   opening of the Chilean economy to world commerce.

Today

   Though San Antonio has taken the reins as the country's most
   commercially important seaport, the City of Valparaíso remains a
   vibrant centre of Chilean culture, and the Greater Valparaíso
   metropolitan area (which includes Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Quilpué and
   Villa Alemana) has the second largest concentration of population in
   the country after Gran Santiago.

   Nicknamed "The Jewel of the Pacific", Valparaíso was declared a world
   heritage site based on its industrial heritage, improvised urban
   design, and unique architecture. The official Unesco declaration also
   places exceptional emphasis on Valparaíso's unique "intangible
   heritage," which includes the city's ethnic heritage as seen through
   the traditions and life styles of Valparaíso's immigrant communities.

   Immortalized in the words of Pablo Neruda as the 'Ocean's sweetheart'
   ("novia del océano"), the city that 'goes to Paradise' (Va al paraíso)
   is one of Chile's —if not South America's— most charismatic and
   historic ports, with its charming "ascensores" (funiculars) and
   colorful hillside houses. Valparaíso's road infrastructure is under
   substantial improvement at present, particularly with the upcoming
   completion of the "Curaima - Placilla - La Pólvora" highway bypass,
   which will permit trucks to go directly to the port facility over a
   modern highway and through tunnels, without driving through the
   historic and already congested downtown streets. In addition, roads to
   link Valparaíso to San Antonio, Chile's second largest port, and the
   coastal towns in between (Laguna Verde, Quintay, Algarrobo, and Isla
   Negra, for example), are also under various degrees of completion.

   A new, regional Metro system, opened to the public on 24 November 2005,
   updated the railroad that joined Santiago and Valparaíso (and cities in
   between, finished in 1863). The new metro constitutes the so-called
   "fourth stage" ("Cuarta Etapa" in Spanish) of Metropolitan
   improvements. The metro railway extends along most of Gran Valparaíso
   and is the second metro system in operation in Chile (after
   Santiago's), and includes an underground section that crosses Viña del
   Mar's downtown.

Culture

   Polanco Elevator
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   Polanco Elevator
   Housing on the cliffs facing the port.
   Enlarge
   Housing on the cliffs facing the port.

   During Valparaíso's golden age (1848-1914) the city received large
   numbers of immigrants, primarily from Europe. The immigrant communities
   left a unique imprint on the city's architecture. Each community built
   its own churches and schools, while many also founded other noteworthy
   cultural and economic institutions. The largest immigrant communities
   came from England, Germany, and Italy, each developing their own
   hillside neighbourhood, preserved today as National Historic Districts
   or "Zonas Típicas."

   During the second half of the twentieth century, Valparaíso experienced
   a great decline, as wealthy families de-gentrified the historic
   quarter, moving to bustling Santiago or nearby Viña del Mar. By the
   early 1990s, much of the city's unique heritage had been lost and many
   Chileans had given up on the city. But in the mid 1990s, a grass roots
   preservation movement blossomed in Valparaíso.

   In 1996, the World Monuments Fund declared Valparaíso's unusual system
   of funicular elevators (highly-inclined cable cars) one of the world's
   100 most endangered historical treasures. In 1998, grassroots activists
   convinced the Chilean government and local authorities to apply for
   UNESCO world heritage status for Valparaíso.

   One such activist group was the "Fundación Valparaíso" or Valparaíso
   Foundation, founded by a contemporary North American Poet, Todd Temkin,
   who fell in love with the city while teaching literature at the
   Catholic University of Valparaíso. The Valparaíso Foundation has
   executed major neighbourhood redevelopment projects; has improved the
   city's tourist infrastructure; and administers the city's jazz, ethnic
   music, and opera festivals; among other projects.

   Some noteworthy foundation projects include: "The World Heritage
   Trail"; "Opera by the Sea"; and Chile's "Cultural Capital".

   Valparaíso was declared a World Heritage Site in 2003, thanks to its
   historical importance, natural beauty (large number of hills
   surrounding a picturesque harbour), and unique architecture
   (particularly, a mix of 19th century styles of housing).

   Valparaíso's newspaper, "El Mercurio de Valparaíso", claims to be the
   oldest Spanish-language newspaper in circulation in the world.

   "Fundación Renzo Pecchenino, LUKAS" maintains the drawings and
   paintings of the artist/cartoonist who came to symbolize Valparaíso in
   popular culture, in a newly restored building on Cerro Concepción,
   overlooking the bay.

   Valparaíso is also home to the so called " School of Valparaíso", which
   is in fact the Faculty of Architecture & Urbanism of the Pontificia
   Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. The "School of Valparaiso" is one
   of the most experimental, avantgarde and controversial Architectural
   schools in the country.

   The city has the second largest concentration of universities in Chile,
   and is home to five major universities:
     * Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
     * Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
     * Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
     * Universidad de Valparaíso
     * Universidad de Playa Ancha

   Valparaíso is the birthplace of many historically significant figures,
   including Augusto Pinochet, Salvador Allende, Roberto Ampuero, author
   of the internationally published novels about the private eye Cayetano
   Brulé, and Australia's third Prime Minister John Christian Watson among
   them. It has also been the residence of many artists like Pablo Neruda
   and Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío.

   The nightlife in Valparaíso claims to be te best in the Country, there
   is a tradition from the sailors, who comes to the Harbour sector to
   drink and in this sector are large number of bars, some of them in
   activity even today. For example "Bar La Playa" near Sotomayor Square.
   The big proportion of University students keeps the tradition alive and
   a huge number of nightclubs, bars and discotheques turns some nights
   into day. A vivid guide of Valparaiso can be found in the novels of
   Cayetano Brule, the private detective who lives in a Victorian house in
   the pictoresque Paseo Gervasoni, Cerro Concepcion.

Sports

   Valparaíso Maratón Bicentenario 2006 official logo.
   Enlarge
   Valparaíso Maratón Bicentenario 2006 official logo.

   Valparaíso Maratón Bicentenario is an international marathon, based in
   the tourist areas of and around Valparaíso. On September 24, 2006, we
   will have the first event, over two distances: 10 km and 21 km, in 12
   categories, both for Ladies and Gentlemen. The race will start at Plaza
   Sotomayor, and the course will cross diverse architectural landmarks,
   for which Valparaíso owes to be known as "the Pacific's Jewel". Other
   event is "Valparaiso Downhill", a mountain bike race. This event is in
   February.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valpara%C3%ADso"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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